Literature in decline? Differences in pre-service and in-service primary school teachers' reading experiences

In a qualitative investigation informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, we analyzed 249 narratives in which Norwegian pre-service and in-service teachers describe themselves as literature readers. Generally, the in-service teachers have read more than the pre-service teachers. The analysis indicates a development whereby teachers who “unconditionally appreciate” literature, are about to disappear. Instead, literature reading is experienced as being too difficult to cope with, and therefore increasingly opted out of or not prioritized. In the final section, we discuss how the status and function of literature in school can be maintained in the presence of the continuous decline in teachers' reading.